Thursday, 25 August 2016

“I boarded a crowded train with a group of colleagues; we journeyed
through the train looking for places; there wasn’t a place for all of us
to sit down" Jeremy Corbyn.

Yes there was but you all wanted to sit together. It is a train, not a Tardis. Other people may get on it first and tend to dot themselves about. The consequence is that it is unreasonable to expect to turn up on an open ticket and get seating in exactly the configuration you wish, especially if you are travelling as a group. This also applies at theatres, cinemas, buses, tube trains and your doctor's waiting room.

It is ludicrous that a grown man has a tantrum - wah, wanna sit wiv me mates, wanna magic train wot expands to make a magic office for me - and still expects to lead the Opposition. The correct response would be to stick him on the naughty step and tell him to learn to behave properly if he wants to be taken seriously. People who wish to sit together have the option of pre-booking a seat. If you do not have online access, the booking office will help. The later you leave it, the less likely you are to be able to sit with your friends. On an open ticket you take your chance with whatever is available.

Q. If you and your mates get on a train without having booked seats together, how likely is it that the train guard will shuffle everyone else around in order to get you a special magic snowflake office?A. Quite high if you are the leader of the Labour Party. Jezza accepted special treatment and even tried to pretend that he did not.

Having provided that special treatment for Corbyn's administratively incompetent staff, the least Virgin could have expected was a 'thank you'. Instead, they got a misleading piece of propaganda which was suspiciously pre-cooked as the film maker was there. It takes a lot to make me sympathetic towards Richard Branson, but Corbyn managed it.